EXPERT CALLS FOR INDIA WIND

Q&A: 'India needs to develop offshore wind farms'
Narayani Ganesh, 25 September 2009 (The Times of India)

…[Narayani Ganesh:] “Is it realistic to say that by 2030, 25 per cent of India's energy requirements would be met by wind power?”

[Steve Sawyer , secretary general, Global Wind Energy Council:] “That's the projection [of] the Indian Wind Energy Outlook 2009…advanced scenario, on the premise that by then, there would be opportunities to tap the country's full potential…This does not include future potential of…offshore wind farms, something that holds great promise considering that India has a 7,000 km coastline…India has the technology; in fact it is among the leaders…All of the major manufacturers of wind equipment have operations in India. In order to reach full potential it would be necessary to develop offshore technology since along the coast winds are steady and in some places concentration of resources is close to load centres in metros. India ranks fifth in total installed capacity with 9,645 MW of wind power installed at the end of 2008.”

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[Narayani Ganesh:] “Won't high capital costs hike per unit cost to consumer?”

[Steve Sawyer, secretary general, Global Wind Energy Council:] “With wind, it's a one-time capital cost and almost all costs are capital costs whereas with conventional power plants, it is ongoing. Once a wind farm is set up, there are no further capital costs like buying fuel as in other power plants that have to source coal, gas etc whose costs too vary from one time to the next…[W]ind farm capital costs too will get reduced but first, private financiers have to get convinced…Around five billion tonnes of CO2 emissions would be reduced…[through] 2030…In climate change negotiations it is important to show that there is huge mitigation potential in India and China but the question is, who will pay for that?”

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[Narayani Ganesh:] “What more policy initiatives are required?”

[Steve Sawyer, secretary general, Global Wind Energy Council:] “Right now solar energy is four times costlier than wind energy. But certainly it is a good investment, since it generates power as well as employment opportunities. Earlier, Germany's wind energy industry was driven by environmental concerns; now it is driven by the business of creating a large number of jobs. In India, presently 15,000 people are employed directly in the wind industry and 75,000 indirectly. The key is…to see [New Energy] in the light of energy security, and its potential for employment, export, emissions reduction potential and saving water. Thermal power stations consume hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day. Wind energy consumes no water.”